This seminar will explore the theory and law of American academic freedom as well as recent controversies over free speech on campus. These subjects give rise to a number of important questions we will read about and discuss, among them: What is the purpose of a university? To whom should faculty members be accountable in their research, teaching, and public engagement? Among both faculty and students, are robust debate and freedom of thought being inhibited by formal or informal mechanisms of censorship or self-censorship? What are the scope and limits of the First Amendment as applied to universities, their faculties, and their students? Grading will be based on seminar participation and preparation of a research paper.